Archive for May, 2011

Beginning a new occasional series of Q&As with people involved in customer service, Dr Stephen Fletcher, Director of The OPC, a Business Psychology consultancy, talks about his experiences and insight on achieving outstanding customer service.

Dr Stephen Fletcher is a Chartered Occupational Psychologist with over 20 years’ experience of working with clients whose customer service has a chequered customer perception. Here he answers 10 questions that reveal some of his reflections on how to get customer service right, and wrong.

Q What first interested you in the field of customer service?

A I had the chance to work closely with a corporate client who wanted to improve levels of front line customer service. The more involved I became the more it became clear that to understand great service you first have to have a good understanding of the psychology of people’s needs, and that this extends from the needs of the customer, back to the needs of the front line service providers and then throughout the organisation. It demonstrated to me and to the client the many varied ways in which psychology can add value to the way organisations organise themselves to deliver customer service.

Q What has psychology got to offer customer service professionals and organisations?

A Great customer service is all about giving your genuine self and creating a positive emotional experience for the customer. Psychology can provide the insights into how and why people experience particular emotions and needs and so can help organisations to understand what they need to do to create these positive outcomes for their customers.

Q What is the greatest challenge facing customer service organisations today?

When the UK’s third largest political party, the Liberal Democrats, lost a devastating 695 seats in the UK local elections on May 5th, it was just a year since they had become the nation’s sweethearts during the 2010 general election campaign.

How had they fallen so far from grace in such as short period of time?

The answer seems to centre on an overwhelming sense of betrayal felt by their supporters and a desire to express their feelings about broken promises and breached trust: to let their vote do the talking.

Elections Offer a Unique Perspective on Customer Behaviour

Elections provide an extraordinary opportunity to observe the workings of the relationship between an organisation and its followers or customers, collapsed into a single day.